Post-school Transitions of People who are Deaf

or Hard of Hearing

Mariela Fordyce, Sheila Riddell, Rachel O’Neill and Elisabet Weedon

1. Overview

� Study commissioned by the NDCS in 2012

� Aim - to investigate the post-school transition process of young people who are DHH in Scotland

Post-school destinationsBarriersSupport Independent adulthood

2. Context of the research

� Recent economic crisis

� Scottish Government’s efforts to reform post-school transition policies

� UK Government’s reform of the welfare system

� Equality legislation

3. Methods

� Analysis of policy and legislation

� Analysis of administrative and survey data

� Interviews with 30 young people aged 18-24• School background• Post-school transition planning• Experiences of post-16 education, training and

employment• Personal background: identity and social networks

4. Findings

� School experiences

� Post-school transition planning

� Experiences of higher education

� Experiences of further education and training

� Experiences on the labour market� Markers of adulthood

5. Interpreting the data

� Mixed-methods research Broad patterns (official statistics) Individual experiences (case studies)

� Representativeness

6. School experiences

� No official statistics about the total number of pupils who are DHH in Scottish schools

� Most participants went to mainstream schools, were educated orally and supported by ToDs

� BSL users changed schools more frequently

� Variation in support between schools/authorities

� Communication barriers

� Most common difficulties – not academic, but social

� Reluctance to ‘stand out’

7. School leavers’ attainment

SOURCE: ATTAINMENT AND LEAVER DESTINATIONS, SUPPLEMENTARY DATA. SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT (2013)Note. This figure shows a selection of all qualifications; therefore reported percentages do not add up to 100.

8. School leavers’ destinations

SOURCE: ATTAINMENT AND LEAVER DESTINATIONS, SUPPLEMENTARY DATA. SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT (2013)

9. Post-school transition planning

� Most participants did not have post-school transition plans

� School leavers who aimed to go to university were better informed than school leavers with lower qualifications

� Young people from socially-advantaged backgrounds benefited from parental support

� Difficulties in the transition to adult social and health services

10. Experiences of higher education

� Good levels of support, e.g. equipment and communication support

� Some variation between institutions

� Communication barriers

� A need for: good self-advocacy skills pastoral support from disability advisors parental involvement in negotiating support

� Students from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to drop out

11. Further education and training

� Patchy support in further education

� Poor support on training programmes

� More reliance on informal support from peers

� More instances of discriminatory attitudes

� Fewer instances of self-advocacy and parental involvement

12. Employment rates of working-age people in the UK by disability status

SOURCE: THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 2012 QUARTER 2

13. Destinations of graduates

SOURCE: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? AGCAS DISABILITY TASK GROUP (2012)

14. Barriers to finding and staying in employment

Graduates Non-graduates

Lack of accessibility in applying for work

Discrimination in recruitment practices

Lack of deaf awareness

Lack of work experience

Limited social networks

Lack of support in employment

15. Markers of adulthood

� Marked differences between higher education graduates and people with lower qualifications:

Independent living arrangements Geographically mobile Financial independence Wider social networks Career planning

16. Socio-economic status and post-school outcomes

Strong association between parental socio-economic status and post-school outcomes

Parental support/advocacy power

School qualifications

Post-school destinations

Work experience

Discrimination on the labour market

Employment rates

17. Conclusions

� Young people who are DHH had poorer school and post-school outcomes than their hearing peers

� School qualifications and post-school outcomes were strongly associated with parental socio-economic status

� Those with higher education qualifications had good employment outcomes

� The most disadvantaged group were the young people who came from low socio-economic groups and left school with few or no qualifications

18. Limitations

� Young people with lower qualifications and from less socially-advantaged areas were underrepresented in the study

� The study does not include the views of practitioners

Further information about the project can be found at:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/education/rke/centres-groups/creid/projects/postsch-trans-young-hi

19. Thank you!